HBO has renewed its fantasy series “Game of Thrones” after only airing one episode.

Sunday night’s “Thrones” premiere averaged a decent 4.2 million viewers across three separate airings. The original 9 p.m. broadcast attracted 2.2 million. For the sake of comparison, the similarly highly hyped drama “Boardwalk Empire” bowed with 7.1 million viewers back in September.

“We are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin’s amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers,” HBO’s programming president Michael Lombardo said. “This is the continuation of an exciting creative partnership.”

This announcement should come as no surprise given HBO’s costly stake in the creation and promotion of “Thrones.” (Seasons One’s price tag was an estimated $50 million.)

Season Two will most likely be based on “A Clash of Kings,” the second book in George R.R. Martin’s best-selling series A Song of Ice and Fire.

game of thrones really is fucking epic... I'm wanting to tear into the book now, but wondering if I should just wait and enjoy the show then read the book. I know most say read the book first but I'm hooked on the show.

game of thrones really is fucking epic... I'm wanting to tear into the book now, but wondering if I should just wait and enjoy the show then read the book. I know most say read the book first but I'm hooked on the show.

probably just budget. It looks like they have a shit load of cash into this show. The epic battle scenes probably take a back seat to character development and they've done a good job so far. It's almost like I watched the epic battles without actually seeing them.

Game of Thrones Season Two Casting News A key figure in Season 2 has been cast and she's a "giant".

We'll not an actual mythological giant but at 6'-3", Gwendoline Christie is probably going to have a hard time finding a date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Still, it's not all bad being that tall. She perfectly fits the physical description of Brienne Tarth, a key character in Season 2 of Game of Thrones. For those of you that haven't read the books, hears a description:

Brienne Tarth is the only daughter and heiress of Lord Selwyn Tarth of Evenfall Hall; she had three siblings, none of which survived childhood. Larger and stronger than most men, Brienne is a skilled warrior and longs to be a knight. She has an awkward personality, but is also honest and stubborn. She holds a naïvely idealized notion of knighthood despite the insults she receives from many knights, who call her “Brienne the Beauty” to mock her ugliness. She is also known as “Brienne, the Maid of Tarth”, but her most common and neutral nickname is “Brienne of Tarth”, as she is both from the House and island of Tarth. She is one of the deadliest fighters in the novel and does a whole lot of killing and maiming.

Game of Thrones Season Two Casting News A key figure in Season 2 has been cast and she's a "giant".

We'll not an actual mythological giant but at 6'-3", Gwendoline Christie is probably going to have a hard time finding a date to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Still, it's not all bad being that tall. She perfectly fits the physical description of Brienne Tarth, a key character in Season 2 of Game of Thrones. For those of you that haven't read the books, hears a description:

Brienne Tarth is the only daughter and heiress of Lord Selwyn Tarth of Evenfall Hall; she had three siblings, none of which survived childhood. Larger and stronger than most men, Brienne is a skilled warrior and longs to be a knight. She has an awkward personality, but is also honest and stubborn. She holds a naïvely idealized notion of knighthood despite the insults she receives from many knights, who call her “Brienne the Beauty” to mock her ugliness. She is also known as “Brienne, the Maid of Tarth”, but her most common and neutral nickname is “Brienne of Tarth”, as she is both from the House and island of Tarth. She is one of the deadliest fighters in the novel and does a whole lot of killing and maiming.